


Of Spirits And Angels

by elliseleven (orphan_account)



Category: NoStranger (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Ghosts, F/M, Implied/Referenced Abuse, NoStranger Spoilers, Spoilers, Suicide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-31
Updated: 2020-01-31
Packaged: 2021-02-25 12:00:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,327
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22495756
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/elliseleven
Summary: After hearing about the murders of her father and best friend, Pepper knew that this had gone too far. The only way to escape Adam was through death. She succeeded in that. However, Adam had never been the type of person to let go easily.
Relationships: Adam Verdu/Pepper June
Kudos: 3





	Of Spirits And Angels

**Author's Note:**

> (Originally titled Obsession Can Kill)  
> I wasn't sure whether to add a Teen or Mature rating, as the descriptions of suicide/death get quite graphic in my opinion, so I put a Mature rating to be on the safe side.

The excruciating pain she once felt had dissipated, but she was still breathing. Unfortunately.

Her first instinct was to roll her eyes.  _ I can’t even kill myself properly.  _ Then the panic set in. If she was still alive, that meant Adam could still find her. She could never hide from him for long. He probably already knew she was here. He maybe even predicted she would try and escape him.

She heard the door rattling, like someone was trying to get in. She knew exactly who that was.  _ Oh, god. He’s here. _ She looked around, frantically trying to find a hiding spot. It was hard to see one since it was pitch black. The best she could do without making a noise was get as close to the corner of the room as she could. 

The door opened as she sat there, hugging her legs to her chest. She felt like she was about to throw up. She couldn’t dare look at him as he walked into the room. If he ever found her, she would be dead for sure. He had never hurt her before, but she had never tried to kill herself before either. Sure, she’d thought about it, but only Adam had driven her to do so. She hoped that he knew that.

“Fuck. No, no, no.” 

It was quiet, but she heard him. Her head jerked up, thinking he had seen her. And he had.

It had been too dark to see before, but Pepper looked up to see her own body hanging from a rope with a chair beside it. She froze.  _ This can’t be happening _ . She stared at it for a long time, trying to figure out how she could be looking at her own dead body right now. She was alive. She knew that for sure. But then how could she be in two places at once? Unless...

She shook her head. That couldn’t be right. Ghosts didn’t exist. But that was the only reason that made any sense. Maybe she would be proved wrong today.

Her mind was shouting at her to stop, but she stood up and began to walk over to him. He was definitely crying. He had fallen to his knees in this time. She had never seen him so much as shed a tear before. Now, his sobs echoed off the walls. He wanted more than anything for him to stop. Did he only care about her now that she was dead? Thinking about that made her heart hurt. She had cared so much for him - more than she could ever say - and he had never appreciated that. She had to kill herself in order for him to care just a little bit?

Soon, her cries joined his. Somehow, it hurt her even more that he had no idea she was there. He had no idea how much he had hurt her.

Her sorrow soon turned to anger. She didn’t understand him at all. If he had just cared about her like this from the start, none of this would’ve happened!

Something sparked within her, and the chair underneath her body wobbled. It was only slight, but Adam noticed. Panic was evident on his face as he jumped up. If anyone caught him here, he would be done for. He took a knife from his jacket, and Pepper winced. There were spots of blood on the tip, but he had clearly tried to wipe it clean. Had he been planning to use that on her too?

“Who’s there?”

His voice bounced off the walls but, of course, no one replied. Pepper tried to move the chair again, but she couldn’t. She tried until she felt like she was going to pass out. If he just knew she was here with him, this could all be resolved. Everything would be back to normal again.

“I’m warning you! Show yourself!”

_ I would if I could. _

She was standing so close to him that she could easily reach out and touch him. She tried to touch his shoulder, but she couldn’t. In the end, she just let it fall back to her side. He shivered violently and turned around. He was looking right at her. She wished he could really see her. 

“What the hell was that?!” His eyes were wide and fearful. She knew he couldn’t see him, but that didn’t stop her from freezing up.

He was clearly scared. She didn’t think she’d ever seen him scared before. Only angry. She put her head in her hands and cried harder, not caring about how loud she was. She didn’t want to scare him. He had made her feel worthless, but she didn’t want that for him.  _ I don’t want to be here. I just wanted to die. Can’t I have that? _

They were quiet, but Adam heard Pepper’s sobs. He cursed and backed away. He was muttering to himself.

“It’s just another hallucination. You get these all the time. Pull it together!”

He had hoped he could shed some light on the place, but the windows were boarded up. Pepper could hear him trying to get the nails out, but she didn’t remove her hands until she heard a board fall to the floor.

“Okay,” he laughed nervously as light filtered into the room. “Good job. You scared me. Now, come out!” That growl would’ve scared her before, but she knew he couldn’t hurt her now. She almost laughed too. He almost sounded cute.

Pepper watched Adam searched for this mystery person. She almost found it entertaining because she knew he wouldn’t find anyone. She couldn’t help glancing at her hanging body as it was brought into the light. Her face looked awful, drained of all life. She wished she hadn’t killed herself. But then, where would she be otherwise? Running in fear of Adam for the rest of her life? She didn’t like the sound of that either.

Once Adam had checked every corner for an intruder, he seemed to be satisfied that there was nothing there.

“Probably just my stupid schizophrenia acting up,” he chuckled.

_ Schizophrenia?  _ He’d never told her about anything like that, but he probably hadn’t told her about a lot of things. She assumed schizophrenia was one of many things she didn’t know about him.

He began to walk towards the door and she followed. It was weird to glide after him like this. It didn’t feel real. She got out before Adam closed the door, but she bet that she could’ve got through either way.

He didn’t bother to lock the door and carried on his way. It was unsettling that he seemed to know where he was going, but she followed him anyway. If she’d got this far, she couldn’t give up now.

They climbed a flight of stairs then Adam took the first room they came across. It was empty, like the first room, but he seemed to be happy with his pick. He was even smiling.

Pepper watched in confusion as he took a tripod and camera from his bag and set it up. 

_ What is he doing? Is he really filming a video right now? After I died, no less!  _ She laughed after remembering she wasn’t really dead. Adam, thankfully, didn’t hear her.

He pressed record and sat down on the floor. It didn’t take long for him to figure out what to say. Pepper almost smiled. He had always been good with words. It was a shame that he wasn’t really writing a book.

“Hey there, stranger. It’s nice to finally meet you face to face.”

Pepper frowned. She could comprehend by now that he didn’t know she was here, so who was he talking to?

As he continued to talk to the camera, Pepper started to put the pieces together. He’d found someone else to help him with his crazy plans. Why did he have to bring someone else into this mess? Did he not care about anyone but himself?!

She couldn’t listen to his lies any longer. She couldn’t believe he could say things like that with a straight face. She hoped this other person was smarter than she had been. She hoped they would see through his lies, if they hadn’t already.

She floated out onto the roof. There had been a window in that room so the brightness wasn’t so blinding, but it still took her time to adjust. She didn’t realize how nice this place was until she came up here. She didn’t even take time to look before. She was so focussed on getting here and ending it before Adam found her. The sky was a beautiful blue with wispy clouds, and she could see fields past the few trees that grew around the parking lot. She felt herself getting emotional again. She was at least glad she got a nice view out of all this.

The door opened, and Adam joined her at the edge.  _ He’s finished his stupid vlog then.  _

His hands fell onto the handrail, right next to hers. She felt her heartbeat quicken (unless she was just imagining it), and she hated herself for that. Why did she still have feelings for him when he made her feel like shit?

He tightened his grip on the rail until his knuckles turned white. Pepper wanted to stop him, but she knew she couldn’t do anything. He swore loudly and made her jump. She stepped back to take a look at him. He looked exhausted, as if he had nothing to give anymore. She knew exactly how that felt. She shouldn’t feel sorry for him after all he had done, but it was so easy.

The penny dropped. That video he had just made. Was that a suicide note? It would make sense. Pepper didn’t bother with any sort of note. She didn’t really have anyone to tell. Her best friend, dad, and grandma were gone, thanks to this dickhead. She didn’t have any communication with her mom, and she didn’t have many friends. There were people she talked to at college, of course, but she wouldn’t call any of them her friends. She wasn’t even sure if they would miss her or even notice she was gone.

She was thrown back into reality (or whatever this was) when Adam started to move. He was hoisting his legs over the railing, so his feet only just fit on the edge.

_ Am I really going to watch this idiot kill himself? He’s just gonna get away with everything, huh? _

Pepper’s irritation with Adam only masked her fear for him. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing or about to see. He clearly had the intention to jump from there. She couldn’t tell if it was far enough to kill him. But knowing Adam, he probably knew the exact height he needed. It was just a freaky coincidence that he had chosen the same building she had.

Adam loudly exhaled and was muttering to himself again. It seemed he was psyching himself up for this. Pepper wondered if he ever planned on killing himself at all. Was it only because she had killed herself first? She didn’t want to think about that.

“I’m sorry, Pep.”

She froze. She hadn’t expected him to talk to her like that. He hadn’t used that nickname for her in a  _ long  _ time. It was almost too much for her to handle.

_ Adam, please don’t do this. Please don't die. _ She didn't know why she still cared so much about him. She just knew that a part of her would die along with him. She still loved him. 

He was rocking backwards and forwards on his feet, which didn’t help Pepper’s anxiety levels. She wanted so desperately to grab him, drag him backwards over the railing, then tell him how much of an asshole he was, but she couldn’t. She would just have to watch this play out.

On his tenth rock onto his toes (they were both keeping count), he pitched forward and fell. In the blink of an eye, he was gone from view, then she heard a  _ thud _ . She almost didn’t want to look, but she had to. His body lay on the concrete, his arms and legs at awkward angles. There was blood seeping from his head. If she could, Pepper definitely would have vomited. 

She didn’t know what to do now. It was all over, and now what? She had to live with that image for the rest of her life as a spirit? The image of Adam dead on the ground after jumping from a rooftop? And her own dead body hanging from the ceiling?

She wished she could kill herself all over again, so she didn’t have to deal with all this. This was all his fault! And he only had to hurt for like two minutes before he killed himself!

For the millionth time that day, Pepper broke down into tears. Meanwhile, she could feel her ‘body’ (calling it anything else would be too weird) disappearing. Almost as if she had fulfilled her time on Earth and was finally going to die. She had been scared about dying the first time. She hadn’t really wanted to, but she felt like it was her only choice to get away from him. Now though, she was relieved. Maybe she could finally have peace.

Pepper had never believed in heaven or reincarnation or anything like that. She hadn’t believed in ghosts either, until today. She had no idea what was about to happen to her, but she realized that she didn’t care. Even if all she got was eternal darkness, at least she would be away from him. He couldn’t hurt her now. 

In her last moments of consciousness, she secretly hoped that she would go to heaven. If it did exist, her dad, grandma, and Noel would definitely be there. It would be nice to see them again.


End file.
